Should Axl Rose Embrace His ‘Fat Elvis’ Period Rather Than Censor It?

Now that Axl Rose has got his mojo back and is busy reminding the world, with a little help from AC/DC, why he’s one of the greatest rock n’ roll frontmen of all time, the flame-haired screamer has sort of shot himself in the foot by demanding Google take down several unflattering images of him from his “fat Elvis” period.

The images from 2010 show a different, more portly side to Axl than the snake-hipped, lycra-clad, and kilt-wearing rock god of the Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion eras.

The pictures, which feature Axl in a red bandana and looking like a Hell’s Angel with a timeless love for mamma’s home cooking, were cruelly turned into the notorious fat Axl memes, which transposed the images with altered Guns N’ Roses song lyrics to mock Axl’s expanding waistline.

Taunts such as “Take me down to the bakery city, where the pies have cream and the cakes are tasty,” “Appetite For Everything” and “Sweet pie of mine” rang out savagely from the dark recesses of the internet.

One image which Axl wants removed, bears the words, “Remember the 80s? He ate them.” Such cruelty. What can one man do against such cruelty you may well ask.

The late Scott Weiland even called Axl a “fat Botox-faced wig wearer.”

It was enough to make even the most restrained and diet conscious individual run to the nearest fast-food joint and comfort eat their way to oblivion.

Yet Axl didn’t. Like a man who wearily lifts his head out of the bottomless abyss of the KFC bucket and sees the shining promise of a new dawn, Axl diligently worked his way through his weight issues, got back in shape, back on top, and now not only is he playing with a reunited Guns N’ Roses, he’s also fronting AC/DC on a tour which many expected to be a comedy of errors but is in fact a triumphant return to form for the singer who many expected to fall flat on his bottom.

Everything was good, everything was golden, until in true Axl Rose style, the singer unwittingly refocused the spotlight on those mocking memes of yesterday by ordering his representatives, the aptly named Web Sheriff, to issue Google a takedown notice of aforesaid images.

Not a good idea Axl. Putting aside the prickly issue of censorship for one moment, everyone knows that if you tell people they’re not allowed to look at a certain picture of a celebrity on the internet, those there pics are going to start trending quicker than you can say, “It would have worked for Joseph Stalin.”

And trend it did. Since Axl’s appeal to Google was reported last Sunday by TorrentFreak, internet interest in the Guns N’ Roses singer is higher than it has been since, well, since the fat Axl photos first surfaced back in 2010.

The old adage of letting sleeping dogs lie would have worked wonders in this situation. Left to their own devices, the photos were dying and would soon have been forgotten by all but the most spiteful troll. By seeking to censor them, Axl may as well have invited all the cave dwellers to come out and party like it’s 2010 all over again.

In fact, since Axl sought to eradicate them from existence, the memes have never enjoyed so much exposure

To compound matters, although Rose believes he owns the copyright to the photos he is trying to have removed. The photographer in question, Borsi Minkevich, who works for the Winnipeg Free Press, is unsure if he signed a form giving over copyright permissions to Axl, a clause which Rose’s representatives, Web Sheriff, say is required of credentialed photographers at his concerts

Web Sheriff have even said that if Minkevich does own the copyright, their client still has a case.

“Taking shots without permission or authority, then other considerations/factors would come into play as to what such individuals can and cannot do in terms of attempting to commercially exploit the resultant images of someone else’s show.”

Stranded in the murky mire of legalese, one thing remains evident, your past will imprison you and bite you on the butt if you don’t let it go.

Instead of seeking to censor, what was, for want of a better phrase, his ‘fat Elvis’ period. Axl should have embraced it and mused, “Well I may have looked a little chubby, but the road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom, or something like that.”

In other words, how can you know when enough is enough, unless you’ve had more than enough, with extra fries.

True stars are riddled with flaws. It’s what makes them interesting, human, destined to implode, and a cut above the hordes of synthetic and manufactured souls sipped up tight in their perfect suits of skin.

When Elvis turned from a lithe pin-up into a bloated gut bucket with a taste for lard, the ladies still sighed with desire every time one of the King’s chins shook along in time to his vocal gymnastics.

Why? Because Presley was a lot more than just his mortal fame. Getting fat happens; it’s no big deal. Pounds pile on and pounds slip away, but the spirit remains. And Axl shouldn’t tarnish his with body fascism or the indignity of censorship.

As Bob Dylan once said, “Don’t look back.” Or as Meatloaf once put it, “Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they are.” Or in this case, substantially bigger.

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]